Monday, January 7, 2008

Need Help?

Blue 2.0 is a collaborative effort. Although there are "experts" leading each section, you can and should be able to help each other. So, if you have a question about a particular module, leave a comment on that module's blog post. If you have a general question about any aspect of the program, leave a comment on this blog post. In either case, one of the "experts" or another of your co-participants may have the answer!

We are also compiling an FAQ, which we will maintain on this post. Check below for answers to common questions!

PROGRAM FAQ

  • PROGRAM BASICS. The Blue 2.0 Planning Team will make a new blog post at the beginning of every 2-week module in the program. That initial post will include information about the technologies we will be exploring, links to useful information, and assignments. At the end of the 2-week period, we record everyone who has completed the assignments on a spreadsheet. The only purpose of tracking progress is for the prize drawings. You can feel free to work on the program at your own pace, but only participants who are on schedule will be added to the drawing pool.
  • PRIZES. We will have two prize drawings during the program, and one grand prize drawing at the end. To be eligible for a drawing, participants must be on schedule at the time of the drawing. Only UK Libraries personnel are eligible for prizes.
  • EQUIPMENT. If you have your own equipment, please use it! But if you don’t have easy access to microphones and digital cameras, you can check them out at the WTYL Circulation Desk. Headphones will also be available at Circulation, but these will be yours to keep (so please only request a program headphone set if you really don’t have your own!). We have three microphones, one digital still camera and one digital video camera that will be loaned out. Be sure to mention the Blue 2.0 program when you check out equipment, and bring your ID so that the equipment can be checked out in Voyager. We have had ninety people sign up for Blue 2.0, so sharing equipment could get complicated! If you can share a friend’s camera you may want to do that. We will try to make the process as smooth as possible, but you may want to plan ahead for any video, image or microphone needs. If you can arrange to snap some shots before Weeks 9 & 10 “Photos, video and podcasting” you’ll probably have better luck!

23 comments:

Jen Schatz Bartlett said...

You can add HTML tags to your blog posts to change their appearance. Blogger has a handy-dandy list of these.

Look at the first example in the “Links” section for HTML code that will let you make a link in your post go “live.”

You can always preview your post to make sure everything’s working ok. Hope this helps!

RJ said...

I've done something wrong somewhere. Actually, I've done several things wrong in my explorations/exercises for blogging/IMing but this one I can't solve by my usual fumbling around. I am getting e-mail announcements every time someone posts a new comment to Blue 2.0. It informs me that someone has posted a comment then gives me the text. How do I stop getting these e-mails since using the blog is supposed to be the primary communication mechanism. Thanks-Roxanna.

Beth said...

Oh, you must have touched something, Roxanna :-)

I'm not the most blog-capable of the Blue group, so I hope someone else can answer your question. It doesn't act that way by default, so there's got to be a way to turn it off. Someone will get back to you about this. If any Blue participants have suggestions, please offer 'em up!

Unknown said...

Two things may have happened:

(1) When you left your initial comment, you may have checked the "e-mail follow up comments to" box. You can go back and edit your comment and remove that check.

OR

(2) In setting up your blog, in the settings tab, there's a part to control comments. In that, you have the option of having comments sent to an e-mail address.

RJ said...

Thanks. I think this worked. I got this message.

Applied acoustics. Obviously not the message I got but reminds me I have a patron wondering about our holdings for this. Best get back to regular e-mail. Thanks again.

Silky said...

Jen,

I have my (proto) blog set up but am having trouble getting chat set-up. I want to use the i'm chat service via Windows Live, but I cannot download the the software. Says I do not have the administrative permissions required. (error code 1603). Is this someting tech services needs to fix or will the new Office 2007 have Windows Live integrated into it, do yoy know?

Carolyn S. Sears
Collection Development

Silky said...

Correction:

"Is this something LibTech services needs to fix or will the new Office 2007 have Windows Live integrated into it, do you know?"

Arghhh! Spoiled by spell checking on my other blogsite.

Jen Schatz Bartlett said...

Hi Carolyn,

I'm not sure about Office 2007 (anybody else want to weigh in on that?) but you can login to AIM using AIM Express, which doesn't require a download of software. Go to the AIM Express page. You'll be able to set up a new account and login from there. ~jen~

Silky said...

Jen,

Thanks for link to AIM. I already have that on my computers at home, but was hoping to localize these particular IM's inside of Windows Live since I'm already there everyday. I've been told to talk to Bob ;)

Becky Ryder said...

What's an "SMS message"? Is it "chat" and/or "IM"

thanks.

Becky

Jen Schatz Bartlett said...

Hi Becky,
The really short answer is that "SMS" stands for Short Message Service and is a system for text messaging between cell phones. The longer, more accurate answer requires a techie person. Anyone? :-) ~jen~

Jen Schatz Bartlett said...

Hi everyone -- Here's an interesting About.com article about how to create and keep track of all your many passwords.

Anonymous said...

I have a couple of questions.

1. When I create a new post to my blog, how do I get a url link to display as words? Do I have to know html to do that?

2. I happened to notice that the times indicated beside my new posts are totally inaccurate. I'm not up doing this at 5:00 a.m. as indicated on the blog. Can that be fixed?

Anonymous said...

Sorry about that. I just now saw the handy-dandy list of HTML tags. That answered my first question.

Jen Schatz Bartlett said...

If your posts are marked with the incorrect time, be sure the time zone in your settings is set to Eastern. From your Dashboard, click on Settings, then on the left side on the screen there's a personal info section you can edit. Hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Jen. I found it under Settings - Formatting and it was set for Pacific time. That should fix it.

RJ said...

I created my wiki and it sent out invitations to everyone I wanted to be able to participate. However, when they click on the link they get asked for a user id and password. Do I need to give everyone my user id and password so they can do anything? That can't be right! Any suggestions

Stacey Greenwell said...

RJ, users need to create their own pbwiki ID and password. Once they've done that, they should be able to log into your wiki with their ID and password and make the edits. Contact me if you are still having trouble.

Charlott said...

I do not like them, Sam I am. I need a tutor, I think.

Anonymous said...

How can I email something to my blog?

Faith Harders

Jen Schatz Bartlett said...

Hi Faith,

In Blogger, you can set up your account to accept e-mail posts -- these posts can publish instantly, or will be saved as a draft for you to edit later. Nifty!

See Blogger's help post with screen shots for an easy how-to.

Alice said...

I think I'm finished with my Blue 2.0 assignments. Is it possible to get confirmation that I haven't missed anything?

http://learningtorideinthebluegrass.blogspot.com/

Beth said...

You're on the list, Alice! We've posted names for everyone who completed on time. (But remember, the big prize is the learning experience so if you're not done yet, keep going! You can do it!)